I thought I’d do a little SBM 101 series for our lay readers. Forgive me if this information is too basic… at least it’s a place to start for those who are budding scientists and critical thinkers.

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Which news source do you trust more: The New York Times or The National Enquirer? Which news reporter would you trust more: Charlie Gibson or Jerry Springer? As it turns out, medical journals and science researchers run the gamut from highly credible and respected to dishonest and untrustworthy. So as we continue down this road of learning how to evaluate health news, let’s now turn our attention to pillar number one of trustworthy science: credibility.

In medical research, I like to think of credibility in three categories:

1. The credibility of the researcher: does the researcher have a track record of excellence in research methodology? Is he or she well-trained and/or have access to mentors who can shepherd along the research project and avoid the pitfalls of false positive “artifacts?” Has the researcher published previously in highly respected, peer reviewed journals?